The life of a 5 year old.

Well, here he is. This bouncing, gabbing, ball of energy that we call a child. And lets be honest. If we had half of the energy that this little guy has, we'd be dead in 10 minutes. So, what's this little guy all about? Let's begin at the beginning. Morning. The first thing on his mind is cartoons. I don't know why . But I appreciate the fact that it makes his morning to see funny characters bonking each other on the head and living to laugh about it. And you know that he could spend his entire day doing this . He also has this insatiable desire to be all grown up so now he is trying to cook you lunch, which usually consists of cheese sandwiches and the cold coffee left over from your breakfast. Hey, that's okay. You're still nursing the cup of coffee that you made earlier, so you just mix them together and revel in the fact that it doesn't taste any different, just colder. Now he's ready to go out and do something. Can you believe that anyone would get excited about going to the bank? Well, he is. He wants to see the world. And the bank, in all it's simplicity, is a very interesting place. But that's not why he's excited. He knows that the teller on the other side of the counter has a sucker with his name on it . Now he wants me to get some money so that he can go to McDonalds. You realize, of course, that he doesn't care about the food. If food was so important to him then why would he fix you a shredded cheese and mustard sandwich for lunch? No, he wants to get a toy from his kid's meal. Keep in mind that this toy may get about 5 minutes of play time before it is discarded and considered "old". It's the anticipation of getting the toy that keeps him glowing. There is a lesson to be learned (and money to be saved) with this realization. Now I'm brainstorming. Why don't I take all of his toys, divide them up into 7 bags and give him a random bag everday to play with? Then he won't ever be bored with his toys and he'll relive that toy anticipation everyday! We're on our way to McDonalds now. He's asking me when he can use the seat belt without the booster seat. I considered him grown up when grew out of the 5-point harness, but he's moving on the next level of big-boyness. Now, McDonalds has a great playplace. But he's bored if he is the only kid in this great oasis of fun. So we wait patiently for another kid to show up. It doesn't matter who the kid is, he wants to play. Mainly, he wants to be the monster. I haven't figured this one out. But, it's okay because now he's having fun. This can go on for hours so you've brought your newspaper of course. But that doesn't mean you'll get to read it uninterupted. He's going to come back to the table at least 5 times to get a drink, tell you what the other kid is doing, and ask you if he can take his shoes off. Note: there are two kinds of Moms. One will ask their child to remove their shoes and place them on the shoe shelf. The other one will ask their child to keep their shoes on their feet at all time. I am the latter. Finally we're on our way home. Your 5 year old may still be stewing because you left McDonalds so soon (it's been 4 hours, but he doesn't know that). In the evening, I have devised a plan that most mother's may find very useful. Here's how it works: assign a fun activity for every day of the week and include a great name for the day. We, for example, have Matchbox Monday where we break out all of his little cars and race them to see who has the fastest car. Toybox Tuesday is when we dive into his toychest and play with everything in it (messy, but fun). Wrestle Wednesday is when we hop onto my king size bed and wrestle around. Tickle Thursday is when we get on the bed and tickle each other (he's getting pretty good now because he's learned all of the tickle spots ) Funny Friday is when we may tell jokes, read books using the idea of opposites (for example: if the book reads "Big Bird wants to be an astronaut", we may say "Big Bird doesn't want to be an astronaut. He's afraid of heights"). On Funny Fridays you can also dress funny or paint clown faces on each other. We used my makeup one time to do this and he was just elated that he got to finally play with my makeup and make me look goofy at the same time. Try it. Saturday and Sunday we usually leave open for any other activities that we're interested in. Bathtime is great for 5 year olds. This particular boy has decided that baths are for babies, but showers are for big guys like him. Let's not hold it against him that he still wants to bring toys into the bathtub. Big boys can do that you know. Brushing his teeth is a little interesting over here. Oh, he does a great job of cleaning. It's just that now he wants to examine the tube of toothpaste and find out how fast toothpaste can actually go. Yes, that's frustrating to clean up, but think about what he's learned! I'm just kidding. This little experiment, while entertaining to him, is still a no-no. Bedtime is now routine, but can still take considerable time. He'll want you to read to him at least 2 books. This part is easy. And if you have an early reader, sometimes he will read to you (what a treat!) The most time consuming part consists of getting him to STAY in bed. Why is this so hard for 5 year olds? First of all, lets consider his energy level. HIGH. So, settling down at night is a lengthy process. Here's how we have solved that. We may give him 3 books and a stuffed animal and ask him to play/read quietly in his bed, but without getting up. This can work. It's easier for him to settle down if he isn't feeling pressure to fall asleep. So, he's settling in for the night and you realize after his lids drop just how beautiful and perfect your little angel really is. God Bless the 5 year old for bringing so much wonderment and excitement into the life of the adult.